Newt Gingrich's fundraising has Sun Belt tilt

Newt Gingrich has been out of office for nearly a decade. He's not plugged into the traditional centers of campaign money. So what places was he mining to fund his campaign before he revealed Tuesday night it would be dramatically scaled back?

Here's a guide to the former House speaker's money map, a listing of his top ZIP codes for contributions through the end of February.

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Atlanta

This one's obvious: Gingrich's old congressional stomping grounds, the Atlanta metro area, is a reliable source of campaign cash. A little more than 7 percent of Newt's itemized individual contributions came from zips starting with 30, a swath of burgs that runs from the Tennessee line to South Carolina's border and centers on Atlanta. The region includes Gingrich's former House district - then the Cobb County-based 6th - and its residents have given close to $800,000.

His fundraising pace started off slowly here but began to gather steam in October, as Rick Perry's fortunes began to decline.

The former House speaker has had to contend with his rivals, who were also tapping Atlanta money: Mitt Romney raised $1.4 million from the region through the end of February, and Herman Cain, who also calls Atlanta home, ran ahead of Gingrich through December, taking $780,000 from the area.

Palm Beach, Fla.

Georgia claims five of Newt's Top 10 ZIPs. Four are located in Florida.

Naples, on the Gulf Coast, anchors a belt of communities that have long drawn moneyed Midwestern retirees - a subset of the 34 ZIPs, led by 34102 - that together gave more than $300,000 to the former speaker's campaign.

Gingrich didn't begin to put up notable numbers on the Gulf Coast until November, when cumulative contributions from the corridor climbed past $50,000. A third of the region's take came in the last two weeks of January, a window that closed with the state's primary.

Since then, his pace here has cooled: Gingrich raised only about $30,000 from the area during February.

Las Vegas

Sin City ranks 17th on Newt's map, and ZIP codes inside the Vegas beltway hold slots 18 and 22, as well. All told, Newt's captured about $130,000 from the gambling capital through the end of February. And that's not counting the millions earmarked for super PAC Winning Our Future, courtesy of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.

Romney has outgunned Gingrich here, leading the speaker's fundraising almost 3 to 1 in the Valley, though the margin's been closer as of late: Newt's take since Dec. 1 runs near $60,000; Romney's collected only $10,000 more.

If the figures seem underwhelming, it's because the recession hit Vegas with a fury, and it shows in the receipts: The city produced more than $1.6 million for GOP hopefuls through February 2008. That number's off 40 percent this cycle and stands at about $1 million.